Current through September 17, 2024
604.01 Lottery Game Retailers
Lottery Game Retailers are required to make payments of
prizes of five hundred ($500) or less for any validated ticket. Lottery Game
Retailers are prohibited from paying any prize exceeding five hundred dollars
($500).
604.02 Retailers
Prize Payment Procedures
604.02A Before paying
a prize claim, the Lottery Game Retailer shall validate the winning ticket.
604.02A(1) Lottery Game Retailers who pay
prizes without validating the ticket do so at their own financial risk. The
Division shall not reimburse Lottery Game Retailers for prize claims paid in
error.
604.02B If the
Lottery Game Retailer is unable to validate a prize-winning ticket, the
retailer shall provide the ticket holder with a Division claim form and
instruct the ticket holder on how to file a claim with the Division.
604.02C After a winning ticket is validated
and signed by the ticket holder, the Lottery Game Retailer shall physically
void the ticket to prevent it from being redeemed more than once. The manner of
voiding the ticket will be prescribed by the Division.
604.02D Lottery Game Retailers may pay cash
prizes in cash, by certified check, cashier's check, business check, or money
order, or by any combination of these methods.
604.02D(1) If payment of a prize by a check
presented to a claimant by a Lottery Game Retailer is denied for any reason,
the Lottery Game Retailer is subject to the same service charges, interest, and
penalty provisions that would apply if the check were made payable to the
Division.
604.02D(2) A claimant
whose prize check is denied shall notify the Division to obtain the prize.
604.02E Lottery Game
Retailers shall pay claims for five hundred dollars ($500) or less during all
normal business hours, unless otherwise directed by the Division.
604.02F Prize claims shall be paid only at
the location specified in the agreement.
604.02G Lottery Game Retailers shall redeem
"free ticket" prizes or coupons as indicated in the rules of the game or
promotion.
604.03 The
Division shall reimburse a Lottery Game Retailer for prizes paid within one
hundred eighty (180) days after a game ends.
604.04 A Lottery Game Retailer shall pay
prizes up to an amount not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) won on
tickets validated and determined by the Division to be official prize winners,
regardless of where the tickets were sold.
604.05 Payment delays
The Division may refrain from making payment of the prize
under Reg-503, Disputes.
604.06 Payment of prizes
The Division shall validate the winning ticket claim
according to the procedures contained in these regulations.
604.06A If the claim is not valid, the
Division shall notify the ticket holder promptly.
604.06B If the claim is mailed to the
Division, a warrant for the prize amount, or the amount required to be paid,
shall be mailed to the winner.
604.06C If the claim is presented in person,
a warrant for the prize amount less applicable setoffs may be presented to the
bearer.
604.07 No prize
shall be paid unless the ticket and the claim form, if required, are properly
completed and all required information is provided.
604.08 Payment by Division
The Division may pay prizes whenever the Lottery Game
Retailer is unable to validate a claim, the prize exceeds five hundred dollars
($500), or whenever a claim is filed with the Division. The Division shall
establish policies for paying prizes including "free ticket"
prizes.
604.09 One prize per
ticket
The Division may specify on the ticket or within the rules or
procedures for a game that a ticket will only receive one prize. Any lottery
ticket bearing the words "only one prize per ticket" shall entitle the ticket
holder only to the largest of any prizes won by virtue of ownership of such
ticket.
604.09A Any smaller prize that
has been paid prior to the awarding of a larger prize, shall be deducted from
the larger prize before the larger prize is paid.
604.10 Payments in installments
Unless the rules or procedures for any specific game provide
otherwise, any cash prize of more than one hundred thousand dollars,
($100,000), will be paid in multiple payments over time. The schedule of
payments shall be designed to pay the winner equal dollar amounts in each year,
with the exception of the first year, until the total payments equal the prize
amount less applicable setoffs. Except as provided in the specific game rules
or procedures, no schedule of payments shall exceed twenty (20) years nor shall
the payments be less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) a year.
604.10A Unless the rules or procedures for
any specific game provide otherwise, when a prize or share is to be paid in
installments, the Division may round the actual amount of the prize or share to
be paid in the subsequent years to the nearest $1,000 to facilitate purchase of
an appropriate funding mechanism. The first payment shall be determined by
subtracting the amount of the subsequent payments from the total
prize.
604.10B If a specific game
provides for split prizes or subsequent to appropriate judicial order requiring
split payment of prizes, when prizes are split and more than one person is
receiving payment of the prize, each payment that would have been received by a
single winner may be split, or the period of time over which payments will be
made, may be reduced to facilitate the purchase of an appropriate funding
mechanism.
604.10B(1) The Division may
determine the amounts payable in any year by using the total amount of the
prize to be paid, rather than the amounts of the shares of the prize.
604.10C Except as
otherwise indicated in a specific game's rules, if a prize is advertised as
payable for the life of the winner, only an individual may claim the prize. If
a claim is filed on behalf of a group, company, corporation, or any other type
of organization, the life of the claim shall be as indicated in these
regulations or as established in the game rules.
604.11 If the Division decides to pay all or
a part of a prize in the form of installments over a period of years, the
Division shall provide for the payment of all installments by a method
established in these regulations, as set out in the game rules or as otherwise
determined by the Director:
604.12
Interest is not due on payments made in subsequent years. The total payments
made shall total the face amount of the prize less applicable
setoffs.
